Rhode Island

GUTHRIE RESEARCH BY LOCATION

Rhode Island – Guthrie Genealogy

Rhode Island

One of the Original 13 Colonies

RHODE ISLAND COUNTY FORMATIONS

  • 1703: Providence County; Rhode Island County (renamed Newport County)
  • 1729: King’s County (renamed Washington County in 1781)
  • 1747: Bristol County (formed from Massachusetts towns transferred to Rhode Island)
  • 1759: Kent County (formed from Providence County)

Note: Rhode Island genealogy research is heavily town-based rather than county-based. Many records (vital, probate, land) are maintained at the individual town level, with some centralized at the Rhode Island State Archives or the Rhode Island Historical Society.

RESOURCE LINKS

GUTHRIE FAMILY GROUP CONNECTIONS in RHODE ISLAND:
Rhode Island appears in GFG6 (Guthries of Scotland / Northern Ireland / England / Canada / Northeastern & Mid-Atlantic USA). GFG6 represents multiple separate paternal lines within an ancient Guthrie Y-DNA cluster rather than a single documented origin. Rhode Island connections fall under the broader Northeastern USA branch (alongside Delaware’s Mill Creek Hundred, Pennsylvania, New York, and Virginia).

Notable Early / Ungrouped Lineage:

  • Robert Guthrie (c. 1635–1692), likely a Scottish prisoner of war from the Battle of Dunbar (1650), transported to New England. He settled in New Shoreham (Block Island), Washington County (then part of the Rhode Island Colony). He married Anne (Alcock) Guthrie (twin of Sarah) on 5 June 1689 in New Shoreham. They had at least one known child: Catherine Guthrie (b. c. 1690), who married John Sands II. Robert died at sea on 3 December 1692 while returning to Block Island from Newport.

This lineage is documented in Rhode Island vital extracts and is the earliest confirmed Guthrie presence in the colony.

VITAL RECORDS & EARLY SETTLEMENT
The primary compiled source for pre-1850 Rhode Island vital records is James N. Arnold’s Vital Record of Rhode Island, 1636–1850 (21 volumes, Narragansett Historical Publishing Co., 1891–1900). Guthrie entries appear in the index (Vol. 8, p. 510) and are concentrated in New Shoreham / Block Island town records.

Key documented events (sourced from Arnold and cross-referenced vital extracts):

  • Marriage: Robert Guthrie & Anne Alcock, 5 June 1689, New Shoreham.
  • Birth: Catherine Guthrie (daughter of Robert & Anne), c. 1690, New Shoreham.
  • Death: Robert Guthrie, 3 December 1692, at sea en route to Block Island.

Later 19th- and 20th-century Guthries appear in Providence, Woonsocket, and other towns (e.g., Ida Amelia Guthrie, b. 1866 in Woonsocket; various 20th-century births in Providence County). Full digitized volumes of Arnold’s work are available on FamilySearch Books.

Rhode Island State Digital Archives (Preservica platform) contains post-1853 vital records, but pre-1850 materials remain largely in printed compilations or original town clerk holdings.

COLONIAL, REVOLUTIONARY, AND LAND RECORDS Rhode Island colonial and Revolutionary-era records are less centralized than in larger states, but key repositories include:

  • Rhode Island State Archives (Providence) – probate, military, and town records.
  • Rhode Island Historical Society (RIHS) – manuscripts, church records, and family papers.
  • Town-level land and probate records (many still held by town clerks; some microfilmed).

No major published “Connecticut-style” multi-volume colonial archives with indexed Guthrie entries were located in standard digitized collections, but targeted searches in RIHS manuscript collections or town records (especially New Shoreham, Providence, and Newport) are recommended.

Land Records Note: Earliest deeds and town records for Block Island / New Shoreham date to the late 1600s and are held locally or at the State Archives.

NEEDED DATA: The following collections at the Family History Library (now accessible via FamilySearch) contain Rhode Island material that may yield additional Guthrie entries (indexing is incomplete or requires on-site review):

  • Arnold, James N. Vital Record of Rhode Island, 1636–1850 – Full 21-volume set (printed and microfilmed).
  • Rhode Island Town Records (various towns, especially New Shoreham, Providence, Warwick, and South Kingstown) – microfilm and digital town clerk copies.
  • Rhode Island Probate Records, Colonial Period – original files at State Archives (some digitized).
  • Rhode Island Revolutionary War Records – rosters and pension files (check RI State Archives and National Archives).
  • Manuscript Collections at RIHS – Guthrie family papers or references in merchant, church, or cemetery records.

Researchers are encouraged to contribute any new transcriptions, photos of tombstones (e.g., New Shoreham cemeteries), or DNA matches linking to GFG6.

Sources & Further Reading

  • Arnold, James N. Vital Record of Rhode Island, 1636–1850.
  • WikiTree / FamilySearch / Ancestry user trees (cross-referenced for Robert Guthrie line).
  • Scottish Prisoners of War Society profiles on Dunbar transportees.
  • Rhode Island State Archives Digital Collections (Preservica).

Leave a Reply Have you found additional Rhode Island Guthrie records, photos, or DNA connections? Share in the comments or contact the blog to help expand this Research by Location page!